ANIMAL LIFE IN EAST GREENLAND. 43 



also are numerous on the coasts of the interior fjords. Musk- 

 oxen were seen around Hurry Inlet, and traces of Foxes, Hares, 

 Bears, Ermines, and Lemmings were observed in Jameson's 

 Land. The richness of vegetation (150 flowering plants were 

 gathered in Scoresby Sound), and the size attained by it, espe- 

 cially around the western basin, is most astonishing, especially 

 in comparison with what it is on the western coast, or a little 

 further north where the snowfall is smaller." 



The southern range of the Musk-ox is now satisfactorily 

 established as far south on the east coast of Greenland as midway 

 between the parallels of seventy and seventy-one ; it will in all 

 probability be found in the future to extend along the coast line 

 of Egede Land to the sixty-fifth parallel of latitude. Thus we 

 find that the habitat of the Musk-ox is brought comparatively 

 close to Europe, and I see no insuperable difficulty in the way 

 of procuring living specimens of these most interesting animals. 

 As far back as the year 1879, I pointed out, in * The Zoologist' 

 (p. 17), what a valuable accession to our fauna the Musk-ox 

 would prove, if it could be introduced successfully into Great 

 Britain. I see no reason why it should not thrive on the 

 mountains of the Highlands of Scotland. 



In the winter season the Musk-ox is covered with a long- 

 stapled fine wool in addition to its coat of hair. This wool is of 

 a light yellow colour, and as fine as silk. Sir John Eichardson 

 states that stockings made from this wool were more beautiful 

 than silk ones. Young Musk-oxen are very easily reared and 

 tamed, and there could not be any great difficulty in catching 

 either old or young in Jameson's Land. The risks incident to 

 their transport from East Greenland to Europe are small, and 

 the subject is well worth the consideration of the Council of our 

 Zoological Society. 



To my mind the most interesting feature in connection with 

 the terrestrial mammalian life of the great island-continent, 

 extending from 60° to 83° 24' N., a distance of fifteen hundred 

 miles, rests in the fact that throughout the entire stretch of its 

 coast line, so far as it has been explored, except where glaciers 

 or the ice-cap meet the sea, the fringe of non-glaciated shore, 

 extending for thousands of miles, supports terrestrial mammalian 

 life and phanerogamic vegetation. In favoured localities, even a 

 remarkable number of large mammals find the means of existence. 



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